...continued Promises from God:
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
And now finally, promises made to the promise breakers by The Promise Keeper. I do not here desire to discuss the issue of covenantalism verses dispensationalism with regard to a list of those that promises are attributed to the believers after the resurrection, but only to say that, regardless of ones stance on that issue, no one can ignore the statement made here by Paul. Whatever promises are made by God, they find there creation, substance, and completion in the Son of Man. Because that is true, His children are to agree with God because Christ came, died, rose, ascended, and presently intercedes for the saints as was prophesied, we therefore must trust the One who sent Him—He is the Trustworthy One!
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
I feel that it is necessary to provide a little context for this verse, not that it really needs it in order for us to rightly apply its meaning, but just to get the full thrust of it:
Romans 8
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Here again were have the apostle affirming that because God raised Christ from the dead, so also will he raise us—the sons and daughters of glory. And as the previous several chapters have argued, because we are sons we are no longer slaves to sin—obligated to its duties; in fact, those who are slaves to that master shall surely die. The hopeful flip side of that coin is that those who “are putting to death the deeds of the body” (struggling against the old man, desiring to love Christ and make much of Him, and generally bearing the fruit of the spirit), you shall surely live because the sons of God are those who are being lead by the Spirit to do these things and thus we are found: walking in the light, and walking in the spirit. Yet another indicator of having been adopted is that we share in the sufferings of Christ so that we will also share in the glory of His resurrection, and these present sufferings cannot possibly be compared to that glory, for just as Christ who, “…for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”, we too must hope in the future in order to withstand our present trials. Christ set forth a pattern, one which begin in and continued in humiliation, and in His High Priestly work He suffered also as the sacrifice, yet at its consummation, His work was crowned with glory in His resurrection.
As Paul states, our hope certainly is in what we do not yet see, for it is an eschatological hope—a hope that is yet future. But it is not an irrational hope that is void of substance, no, it is a hope founded on the events of the past—the work of God in time to redeem creatures and creation. Have you ever asked, why is the God-head considered in this Father/Son relationship; why is Christ considered a "Son"? I submit one answer, that the aim of God the Father in Christ the Son was not merely to absolve our sins, but more so to adopt us as sons, and as which we are counted when we are placed "in Christ". And if in Christ, then heirs of the promise, and if heirs of the promise, then heirs of the hope and glory of resurrection! How is that for quenching the thirst of worry?
Romans 8:28-30
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Quite possibly the most quoted passage when we think of battling worry, I know I come back to this passage often. I know that it doesn’t say promise in the text but the elements of a promise are there—Paul, through the Spirit, told us of the sure work of God in us. First, he defined Christians as those who love God, and that they are also the ones who are called, which is His purpose (God intended and affected their calling and their love for Him). Paul goes on to state that the ones who love God were also those whom He knew beforehand and would eventually call to Himself. And lastly, regarding the description of believers, Paul tells us that God’s ultimate intention is to conform us to the image of His Son. He then he goes on to inform us that everything in the life of the believer, those of us who love God, is being worked together (or caused in the NASB) for our good.
There is no contextual or grammatical basis to think that the word all in verse 28 is limited in scope as it elsewhere can be, so we comfort in that fact that all the events and circumstances of our lives are here included: our birth, our happiness and sorrows, our triumphs and defeats, and even our death. The next thing to note is that it is obvious, based solely on the fact that even one believer has ever been martyred, that protecting us from physical death, illness, calamities, sufferings, bondage, hunger, poverty, discomfort and the like was not what Paul meant here by that which God intends as good. The good spoken of here is that ultimate goal Paul brought out in verse 28, that God intends to conform us to the image of His Son; this is good, and He intends to use, yes He has even ordained, all that occurs in our lives to bring about this end, finally culminating His purpose in the resurrection of our bodies to the unification of our spirits and bodies, where in heaven we will see Christ as He is and worship Him forever without the possibility of sin, for His glory through our greater joy!
Paul continues this chain in verse 30 where he exhorts us by stating the fact that the one God has predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, that one He most certainly will call to Himself, and the one called is the one who will be justified by the merciful grace of God, and the one whom God has justified, He will also glorify in His glorious return!
Unless our point of view is skewed by some aberrant view of God’s omniscience, or His holiness or His ability to do all that His holy will pleases to do in His creation and in the lives of those He has created, then we will affirm the truths stated in this passage and we will actually be able to take comfort in them. Here again we see that our hope and our joy are to be found in a resurrection; the future glorification of our bodies.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
And now finally, promises made to the promise breakers by The Promise Keeper. I do not here desire to discuss the issue of covenantalism verses dispensationalism with regard to a list of those that promises are attributed to the believers after the resurrection, but only to say that, regardless of ones stance on that issue, no one can ignore the statement made here by Paul. Whatever promises are made by God, they find there creation, substance, and completion in the Son of Man. Because that is true, His children are to agree with God because Christ came, died, rose, ascended, and presently intercedes for the saints as was prophesied, we therefore must trust the One who sent Him—He is the Trustworthy One!
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
I feel that it is necessary to provide a little context for this verse, not that it really needs it in order for us to rightly apply its meaning, but just to get the full thrust of it:
Romans 8
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Here again were have the apostle affirming that because God raised Christ from the dead, so also will he raise us—the sons and daughters of glory. And as the previous several chapters have argued, because we are sons we are no longer slaves to sin—obligated to its duties; in fact, those who are slaves to that master shall surely die. The hopeful flip side of that coin is that those who “are putting to death the deeds of the body” (struggling against the old man, desiring to love Christ and make much of Him, and generally bearing the fruit of the spirit), you shall surely live because the sons of God are those who are being lead by the Spirit to do these things and thus we are found: walking in the light, and walking in the spirit. Yet another indicator of having been adopted is that we share in the sufferings of Christ so that we will also share in the glory of His resurrection, and these present sufferings cannot possibly be compared to that glory, for just as Christ who, “…for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”, we too must hope in the future in order to withstand our present trials. Christ set forth a pattern, one which begin in and continued in humiliation, and in His High Priestly work He suffered also as the sacrifice, yet at its consummation, His work was crowned with glory in His resurrection.
As Paul states, our hope certainly is in what we do not yet see, for it is an eschatological hope—a hope that is yet future. But it is not an irrational hope that is void of substance, no, it is a hope founded on the events of the past—the work of God in time to redeem creatures and creation. Have you ever asked, why is the God-head considered in this Father/Son relationship; why is Christ considered a "Son"? I submit one answer, that the aim of God the Father in Christ the Son was not merely to absolve our sins, but more so to adopt us as sons, and as which we are counted when we are placed "in Christ". And if in Christ, then heirs of the promise, and if heirs of the promise, then heirs of the hope and glory of resurrection! How is that for quenching the thirst of worry?
Romans 8:28-30
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Quite possibly the most quoted passage when we think of battling worry, I know I come back to this passage often. I know that it doesn’t say promise in the text but the elements of a promise are there—Paul, through the Spirit, told us of the sure work of God in us. First, he defined Christians as those who love God, and that they are also the ones who are called, which is His purpose (God intended and affected their calling and their love for Him). Paul goes on to state that the ones who love God were also those whom He knew beforehand and would eventually call to Himself. And lastly, regarding the description of believers, Paul tells us that God’s ultimate intention is to conform us to the image of His Son. He then he goes on to inform us that everything in the life of the believer, those of us who love God, is being worked together (or caused in the NASB) for our good.
There is no contextual or grammatical basis to think that the word all in verse 28 is limited in scope as it elsewhere can be, so we comfort in that fact that all the events and circumstances of our lives are here included: our birth, our happiness and sorrows, our triumphs and defeats, and even our death. The next thing to note is that it is obvious, based solely on the fact that even one believer has ever been martyred, that protecting us from physical death, illness, calamities, sufferings, bondage, hunger, poverty, discomfort and the like was not what Paul meant here by that which God intends as good. The good spoken of here is that ultimate goal Paul brought out in verse 28, that God intends to conform us to the image of His Son; this is good, and He intends to use, yes He has even ordained, all that occurs in our lives to bring about this end, finally culminating His purpose in the resurrection of our bodies to the unification of our spirits and bodies, where in heaven we will see Christ as He is and worship Him forever without the possibility of sin, for His glory through our greater joy!
Paul continues this chain in verse 30 where he exhorts us by stating the fact that the one God has predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, that one He most certainly will call to Himself, and the one called is the one who will be justified by the merciful grace of God, and the one whom God has justified, He will also glorify in His glorious return!
Unless our point of view is skewed by some aberrant view of God’s omniscience, or His holiness or His ability to do all that His holy will pleases to do in His creation and in the lives of those He has created, then we will affirm the truths stated in this passage and we will actually be able to take comfort in them. Here again we see that our hope and our joy are to be found in a resurrection; the future glorification of our bodies.
...to be continued.
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